I had never left the muddy roads of our village, which was 15 kilometers away from movie theaters and skyscrapers. But one afternoon, as my eight–year–old friends and I stood on our tiptoes and peered through a chink in the curtains of a neighbor’s home, watching a TV show, we saw a trailer for the American blockbuster Avatar. I had an idea. We would ride our bikes to Guangzhou to see it.

I felt like a restless cat, nervous and agitated, the morning of our journey. The wind was piercing cold, and the sounds of crows filled the air. I grasped, in my pocket, a 50–yuan bill from my grandma, as I stood next to my rusty old bicycle. I wasn’t tall enough to reach the seat easily, but I knew the stormy weather and bumpy road wouldn’t stop my friends and me.

As we pedaled on the pitted road, my bike felt like it would fall apart, and my body felt the same way. However, curiosity to see Avatar and a desire to be independent prompted me to continue. Eventually, we arrived at the edge of an asphalt road, the main road. Cars, like ostriches, sprinted in front of us. I decided we should ride along the curb to the river, and cross to the right side of the main road, cycling under the bridge to safety. My friends followed me without complaint, similar to the relationship between Odysseus and his crew on their odyssey.

A few hours passed. We were exhausted and didn’t know how far away we were from our destination, until finally we saw the tall buildings for the first time and an Avatar poster on a pole near us. We followed the arrows to the movie theater.

In front of the theater, hundreds of families stood in a long line. The sounds of cheering filled the air because everyone, like us, was excited to see the movie. My friends and I stood up straighter to make ourselves taller, like the adults. We gazed into each other’s eyes and smiled. That day, we had walked into the movie theater boys and had come out proud young men.

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XuHui Deng writes, “I am 18 years old, from Taishan, China. I speak Mandarin and Cantonese. I’ve been in New York City for three years. I would like readers to be a part of my story. My teacher, Caryn Davis, was like my mentor in a new country. She helped me improve my academic English skills.” XuHui Deng studies in Caryn Davis’s CLIP class at CUNY’s City Tech.